This invention relates to a CONVERTIBLE SUITCASE, and, more particularly, to a piece of furniture of the chest-of-drawers type which may be disassembled into a plurality of hand-portable suitcase units.
Prior art in this field has included many designs for modular or expandable furniture. One example is the expandable covered bookcase unit, with glass front doors which lift in the style of an overhead garage door. Such furniture is designed with the intent to allow purchase of individual units or modules as needed, without having an unfinished look to the assembled units. Furniture of this type is not designed for hand-portability of the units, and particularly not with the compactness and security of closure necessary for suitcase use. Furthermore, such units generally lack the necessary quickness and convenience of disassembly for luggage use.
Steamer trunks and portable wardrobes are known, with individual drawers and compartments housed in a common, portable enclosure, but such trunks and wardrobes are not designed to allow individual separated use of the drawers as luggage pieces on their own. Moreover, few steamer trunks possess sufficient simplicity or elegance of design to be termed an article of home or office furniture. They are usually constructed with a rigid outer enclosure for the drawers and compartments, so that they could not fairly be termed expandable.